The Fleets
The American & Indian Line was formed in 1894 by Bucknall Bros, London, and started a service between New York and Calcutta via the Cape of Good Hope. In 1908 the company was taken over by Sir John Ellerman and in 1914 became known as Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Company, Limited. Passenger sailings started in 1919 between New York, Cape Town, Durban, Bombay, Madras, Rangoon and Calcutta and lasted until 1920. Subsequent sailings to India were routed via the Suez Canal with calls at Mediterranean ports. In 1927 the route was extended to Colombo, Singapore, Manila, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Passenger sailings continued until 1930 when the world wide slump caused the service to be discontinued and Ellerman & Bucknall Line concentrated on cargo sailings after this date.
Many thanks to Ted Finch for his assistance in collecting this data. The following list was extracted from various sources. This is not an all inclusive list but should only be used as a guide.
Ships
| Name | Built | Additional Information | GRT |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Baroda | 1918 | 1943 torpedoed and sunk by U-Boat off Luderitz Bay. | 7,129 |
| City of Benares | 1901 | 1933 scrapped. | 6,984 |
| City of Cairo | 1914 | 1942 torpedoed and sunk by U-Boat in South Atlantic; loss of 104 lives. | 7,882 |
| City of Calcutta | 1903 | 1935 scrapped. | 7,679 |
| City of Harvard | 1907 | ex- Giessen North German Lloyd, 1919 ceded to the Shipping Controller and managed by Lamport & Holt. 1921 renamed City of Harvard, for Montgomerie & Workman (Ellerman & Papayanni Line). 1923 transferred to Ellerman & Bucknall, 1934 scrapped. | 7,071 |
| City of Hongkong | 1923 | 1951 sold to Grimaldi Line, Italy, renamed Centauro. | 9,678 |
| City of Karachi | 1905 | 1934 scrapped. | 5,573 |
| City of Lahore | 1911 | 1933 scrapped. | 6,948 |
| City of Lucknow | 1908 | ex- Heluan (Kosmos Line), 1919 war reparations, renamed City of Lucknow, 1923 sold to Hamburg America Line, renamed Heluan. | 7,428 |
| City of Marseilles | 1912 | 1947 scrapped. | 8,267 |
| City of Poona | 1912 | 1934 scrapped. | 7,485 |
| City of Sparta | 1896 | 1931 scrapped. | 5,415 |
| City of Valencia | 1908 | ex- Roda (Kosmos Line), 1919 war reparations, renamed City of Valencia, 1934 scrapped. | 7,329 |
| City of Venice | 1924 | 1943 torpedoed and sunk by U-Boat near Algiers. | 8,308 |
| City of York | 1903 | 1936 renamed City for voyage to Japanese shipbreakers. | 7,844 |
| Trafford Hall | 1905 | 1934 scrapped. | 5,321 |